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Weekly Roster Update 9/21/18

September 22, 2018

Welcome to the penultimate R.B.I. Baseball Weekly Roster Update! This past week, Christian Yelich made his case for NL MVP, Yasiel Puig hit a lot of baseballs out of the yard, and the NL West standings continued to resemble a game of Chutes and Ladders. As is the case for every week throughout the 2018 season, we’ve given boosts to the week’s best performers.

Over the past 30 days, the Royals are one of the best offenses in baseball. They’re 2nd in batting average, 2nd in slugging, 5th in wRC+ (definition here) and 6th in wOBA (definition here). Adalberto Mondesi has played a large part in the Royals’ recent successes as he’s been on fire since the All-Star Break. Since the Midsummer Classic, Mondesi has 20 stolen bases with a .178 ISO, and a .299 average. The utility infielder has been getting it done defensively as well as he’s worked his way to a 2.1 WAR over the course of the 2018 season. We’ve boosted Mondesi’s Contact, Power, Fielding, and Speed ratings.

There is a lot of talent in Anaheim with Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Andrelton Simmons and more. Justin Upton however, has been one of the more steady pieces in 2018 for the Angels squad. He’s quietly posted his 3rd consecutive 30+ HR season with a .353 wOBA and 127 wRC+ on the year. While Upton has increased his line drive rate by 3% at the expense of his FB rate, he has actually improved his HR/FB by 3% from last year. We’ve boosted Upton’s Contact and Power ratings.

This past week, Matt Olson has played like a man possessed. His slash line was .360 / .429 / .600 with an 11% walk-rate and .240 ISO. Olson has been very successful at cutting into his K-rate this year as he’s brought it down to a new career low 24.4%. While that’s still slightly above league average, the 3% improvement is a nice step forward for the young Athletics first baseman. More impressively, Olson has seen his line-drive rate jump from 15% to 22% and his GB rate drop about 5%. We’ve boosted Olson’s Contact and Power ratings.

2018 has been a career year for Jameson Taillon. He’s put up 178 IP, a career high by over 40 innings. He’s posted a career low 3.24 ERA with an impressive 3.41 FIP. He’s proved that last years 8.42 K/9 over 133.2 IP wasn’t a fluke as he put up a 8.44 K/9 over more innings. Taillon has even decreased his BB/9 from 3.10 to 2.17; a really impressive drop. What makes Taillon such a dangerous pitcher is he can get you out with an entire arsenal, not just one pitch. His sinker is a top 25 sinker in the league, his curveball induces a high amount of whiffs, and his fastball can hit 98. We’ve boosted Taillon’s Curve and Speed Difference ratings.

After a rocky start against the Blue Jays, Glasnow bounced back with a vengeance. In his last two starts, he’s thrown 13 IP giving up 2 ER while striking out 9 and walking just 2. When Glasnow first started throwing consistently with the Rays he was either throwing fastballs and sliders, or fastballs and curveballs. Rarely did he mix all three together. Recently however, Glasnow has started utilizing all three pitches and the results are starting to speak for themselves. When Glasnow’s able to get both breaking pitches moving well, his fastball becomes virtually un-hittable, especially when it’s coming at batters at 96+. We’ve boosted Glasnow’s Max Stamina, Velocity, Drop and Speed Difference ratings.

Ryan Borucki is just one of many talented young arms that the Blue Jays have put into the rotation in 2018. Over 84 IP, Borucki is sporting a solid 3.87 ERA with a 3.57 FIP. While the 6.11 K/9 is well below the league average, Borucki has never been known for being a K guy. Instead he’s more of a finesse pitcher as his sub 3 BB/9 can attest to. Borucki focuses on mitigating hard contact and he does just that with a slider that has a 46% ground-ball rate and a change-up that has a .225 batting average against on the year. We’ve boosted Borucki’s Stamina, Drop and Speed Difference ratings.